CANTON, NY –
Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) scored the first of his two goals just 23 seconds into the game, and the nationally 14th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team eased to a 4-0 road win at Canton in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Wednesday evening. The Red Dragons improved to 11-1-4 (6-0-2 SUNYAC), while Canton falls to 3-14-1 (1-7-0 SUNYAC).
The win secures the Red Dragons a berth into the semifinals of the upcoming SUNYAC playoffs, and a win in Cortland's last game against Potsdam on Saturday would clinch the SUNYAC regular-season title for Cortland.
Hutter's two goals were his second and third of the season.
Josh Carroll (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) chipped in a goal and an assist for the Red Dragons.
Gaetano Corrao (Thornwood/Iona Prep) also netted a goal, while
Sebastian Olego (Bedford Corners/Byram Hills) contributed an assist.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) made three saves in goal for his 11th shutout of the season.
Joey Raap made eight saves in the first half in goal for the Roos, while
Jon Bovair stopped three shots in the second half. Three different players recorded a shot on target for Canton.
The Red Dragons opened the scoring in the opening minute of play.
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) made a great play to intercept a pass and sprinted down the left sideline towards the end line. Brant then crossed the ball to the middle, where Hutter had his header saved by Raap. A follow-up attempt by Hutter on the rebound was also saved, but Hutter finally knocked the ball into the back of the net on the third try to give the Red Dragons the lead.
Canton had an opportunity to tie the score minutes later, but a shot in the fourth minute by Chris Escobar struck off the crossbar. Ott followed with his first save of the game on a shot by Lucas Damon in the sixth minute.
Cortland doubled its advantage in the 13th minute, as Olego made a pass to Carroll in the midfield, and the senior rifled a low shot into the left corner of the net from 25 yards out for his 10th goal of the season.
Corrao made it 3-0 off of a corner kick in the final minute before halftime. The junior curled an inswinging cross toward goal and the ball bounced through traffic in front into the back of the net for Corrao's third goal of the season.
Hutter capped the scoring for the Red Dragons with a well-placed finish in the 51st minute. Carroll took a pass from just outside the 18-yard area and attempted to dribbled through the Canton defense. After getting around two defenders, Carroll slipped a perfectly-weighted through ball to Hutter, who knocked a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
Ott made two saves in the final nine minutes of the contest to preserve the shutout, one on a free kick by Escobar with 8:30 remaining, and another on the final kick of the contest by Justin Sarmiento.
